I like it very much so far - although I would prefer sharper photos at longer focal lengths (wouldn't we all).

Macro - excellent
High Speed burst - excellent (I use this more in the 5 frames per second for 2 secs than the 10 : 1, the 5MB is plenty enough to get great photos).
Low light (Twilight) - very very good if on a tripod, good if not. Even 800 / 1600 produces printable 5" x 7" prints.
Panorama Stitching - mostly superb but some times awful ! You need to learn the speed at which to pan (on a tripod is better and easier).
x20 (9mb) x26 (5mb) x33 (3mb) & x108 (!!!) VGA (for email) zooms - The first two are very usable the x33 isn't really unless you just want to identify a bird ! x108 ? Well what do you expect !
Build quality - very good (Canon SX10 is better and the Pana Z28 worse).
Articulated Screen - excellent. I don't need it to be able to do a 360 double back flip with tuck - this does all I need and the quality is very good. EVP too small for my poor eyesight.
HD Video - lovely lovely lovely - however the continuous focus is a little slow, although the zoom functions throughout the range.

It's a good camera for me and is a very good replacement for my old digicam Oly 8080.

Check out the www.dpreview.com Sony Talk Forum. There is another personal review there on the HX-1. And in the next couple of weeks Jeff should comple a full professional review of the HX-1 over at www.dcresources.com.

05/17/2009 Update: The full Sony HX-1 review has now been posted over at www.dpreview.com, and there should be another professional review at www.dcresource.com before the end of may.

The new Sony HX-1 is getting pretty good reviews. I think it might be a very important first step forward in using a CMOS imager on a digicam. It certainly competes well against Canon's SX-1 CMOS imager based camera.

Here is a sample photo taken with the brand new Twilight Mode that takes 6 high ISO setting photos and then merges them into a single image to give the photographer the greatest resolution and the least noise.

I and many others be looking forward to your images, Sarah. And, given the great results you've been able to get with Panasonic's FZ28, I hope you'll come out and tell us which camera is better - and why. Yes, there are reviews on the Web which find the FZ28 superior to the HX1 at the pixel level. But your real-world results will no doubt be what tips many potential buyers one way or the other.

The HX-1 arrived late yesterday afternoon (05/19). The battery is now charged and I will do some experimenting today. I will be soon posting some results.

Sarah Joyce

Although I won't be buying the HX-1, I'm very curious to see the results you'll come up with. Since the release of the H2 I've been disappointed with the H series. I still have my H1 but after trying the H50, I decided to switch to Pana (FZ18 and FZ28). As for the HX-1, just because it has a CMOS sensor it does not mean IQ will be superior. Canon already realeased a long zoom with a CMOS sensor and that was a failure.